A collection of businessmen on Monday launch a coalition to advise the federal government to make a major investment in electric transportation, pointing to electric cars as the top way to confront the nation's dependence on imported oil.


Top executive with more than a dozen companies, as well as Nissan Motor Co., FedEx Corp., electric utility PG&E Corp. and battery developers A123 Systems Inc. and Johnson Controls-Saft, announce the formation of the Electrification Coalition to lay the foundation for millions of electric cars to reach U.S. highways.

Issuing a lengthy plan to electrify the nation's fleet, the coalition urged Congress to pass a series of tax credits and loan guarantee to bring 14 million electric cars to the road by 2020 and more than 100 million by 2030. The group envisions a network of electric vehicles in 6 to 8 cities in the short term and growth across the country, making 75 percent of all vehicle miles travel powered by electricity by 2040.

"There's no pie-in-the-sky here," said Frederick Smith, FedEx's chairman, president and CEO. "It's simply a matter of group, a matter of will and a matter of execution." participant, though, recognized that the proposal would be expensive and would require a major commitment from Congress. The group's blueprint would cost more than $120 billion over eight years and encourage tax credits for the fitting of advanced batteries, loan guarantees for the retooling of plants, and tax credits for public charging station and home charging equipment.


"Ultimately the customer will make the decision about where this country goes, but from the point of view of public policy we can set the stage for it," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who joined the group for its statement.

Nissan President and CEO Carlos Ghosn said the auto manufacturing was working quickly to expand zero-emissions cars in response to concerns about oil security, tighter emissions requirements in the United States and elsewhere and a public thirst for choice vehicles not tied to petroleum.

Ghosn said the world market of 600 million vehicles is likely to expand to 2.5 billion vehicles in 2050 with the growth in vehicle purchasing in rising nations such as China and India, making electric cars a must. Nissan is release the Leaf, an all-electric car, in limited statistics next year and plans to put the vehicle into mass-production globally in 2012.

Caltrans must go decisively to get better traffic safety on the Bay Bridge, where half events weren't enough to prevent a fatal accident on tricky stretch of road. The skid marks at the start of the new westbound S-curve tell the story: This danger zone is catching drivers off guard.

Drivers need to slow down on a slalom course of temporary roadway, where a motor vehicle driver died when his rig shot over the side and plummeted 200 feet to Treasure Island in the predawn hours Monday. Since Sept. 8 when the S-curve section was put in use, 40-plus accidents have occurred on the football-field length of pavement.

Caltrans has posted illuminated warning signs and a summary speed limit from 50 to 35 mph in the area. But before Monday's fatal incident, the string of accidents should have motivated Caltrans to try additional safety steps. Drivers, who ignored the go-slow advisories, need more clear warnings. The signs are too late and too subtle.

Bridge planners must reorganize how to handle the bridge's heavy weight of 260,000 drivers per day. It's a challenge made extra difficult by the need to finish building of an adjacent replacement span and merge it at the juncture where the dangerous S-curve is in use. Drivers will have to navigate this precarious stretch until the new span is connected in 2013.

Caltrans announced some minor adjustments Monday, including its plan to add reflective tape to the barriers along the S-curve and additional advisories on the westbound direction. The curve is not as much of a problem in the eastbound direction coming out of Yerba Buena Island, where most drivers tend to slow down for the tunnel. Those fixes may not be enough.

Our immediate concern is for the daily hazard created by the S-turn. Drivers need to be better warned, and speeders need to be cited. As we saw Monday, it can mean the difference between life and death.

Fort Baker, the ninth and final "Post-to-Park" converstion in the Golden Gate National Parks, is a 335 acre former 1905 U.S. Army post located immediately north of the Golden Gate Bridge. This hidden gem of a site consists of over 25 historic army buildings clustered around a main parade ground, a sheltered harbor protected by a jetty, a number of historic gun emplacements, and trails and forested areas climbing gently up from San Francisco Bay.


Fort Baker features a hands-on children’s museum and learning center, the Bay Area Discovery Museum; a first-class lodge, Cavallo Point-the Lodge at the Golden Gate; an institution dedicated to dialog and action on global environmental issues, the Institute at the Golden Gate; as well as a very active U.S. Coast Guard station and a small yacht harbor.

The 2009 United States Mint Proof Set® contains 18 coins, each bearing the "S" mint mark of the United States Mint at San Francisco.


Included in this set are four Presidential $1 Coins honoring past Presidents of the United States: William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James K. Polk and Zachary Taylor; the six quarter-dollar coins honoring the District of Columbia and the five U.S. territories: Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands; the four Lincoln Bicentennial One Cent Coins recognizing the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth; a new Native American $1 Coin; and the Jefferson nickel, Roosevelt dime and Kennedy half-dollar.

The vast San Francisco Bay and Delta region of California is placed at the union of Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. It is often referred to as the San Francisco Bay estuary. Since the detection of gold in the Sierra Nevada foothills in 1848, this area has undergone rapid, large-scale, and permanent changes driven by population migration involved to the region's natural setting and economic opportunities. The consequent land use changes, particularly urbanization, have resulted in the loss of wetlands, alteration of freshwater inflows, contamination of water, sediments and biota, and declines of fish and wildlife species.


The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has maintained a broad program of multi-disciplinary research studies, both basic and useful, in the San Francisco Bay estuary and its watershed. The studies help us understand the point and impact of these changes, as they also help decision-makers use science to help mitigate adverse things. USGS studies often are conducted in cooperation with other Federal, State, and local agencies, and have been planned to increase our understanding of main issues. These issues include waste disposal, water flow management, harbor/channel dredging, wetland restoration, food web processes, exotic species impacts, natural hazards mitigation, and maintaining quality of life.

"Access USGS-San Francisco Bay & Delta" was created to help distribute this information via the World Wide Web. Here you will find examples of USGS publications, posters, maps, and other information on the San Francisco Bay & Delta region from many disciplines.